PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[themaguffin]

If the BIG development happens, then tearing down the old arena will have been a great thing and redeem the misguided development that was to begin with.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

If the BIG development happens, then tearing down the old arena will have been a great thing and redeem the misguided development that was to begin with.

I find that I have to agree. The Arena is gone and won't come back. I was one of the people hoping that there would be a way to save it but now that it's a parking lot, we need to move on.

[JVC]

photos of "east liberty town square" - taken on a beautiful 65 degree sunday afternoon in february 2016



no evidence of people hanging out in front of the incredible cathedral - lots of evidence of the stormwater mitigation garden being used as a giant ashtray and trashcan

[Found5dollar]

Originally Posted by JVC

tearing down the civic arena was the greatest pittsburgh urban planning mistake of all time

building the civic arena was the greatest pittsburgh urban planning mistake of all time.

There, fixed that for you.

[Kenchiku desu]

Excellent posts! Thank you the education on Pittsburgh redevelopment and particularly for posting the civicareandevelopment presentations.

Lower Hill redevelopment plans are wrestling with Americans with Disabilities Act's mandate of making everything nearly level for wheelchair access and are probably in uncharted territory in creating a new urban district on a hilly site. Most new development in hilly terrain that I am aware of resorts to boring, terraced streets (so typical of California greenfield development) in order to provide Accessibility. The Atelier 10 plan attempts to have terraced, low-slope paths -- and preserve the street grid at the same time.

[JVC]

get ready for the wrecking ball to appear at the former penn plaza in east liberty

Penn Plaza building empties out with help from volunteering veterans

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...lunteering-veterans/stories/201602290065

[RespectCondor]

Originally Posted by Found5dollar

building the civic arena was the greatest pittsburgh urban planning mistake of all time.

There, fixed that for you.

Seriously, say whatever you want about the memories you had in that building or how "cool" you might have thought the roof was, but don't ignore the wall it represented between downtown and the hill district. there is no mistaking that the hill district took a huge turn for the worse after its construction.

You can say similar things about Penn Circle and Allegheny Circle. these were all auto-centric big urban redevelopment projects that put their respective neighborhoods at a serious disadvantage that we are only now beginning to fix.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by RespectCondor

Seriously, say whatever you want about the memories you had in that building or how "cool" you might have thought the roof was, but don't ignore the wall it represented between downtown and the hill district. there is no mistaking that the hill district took a huge turn for the worse after its construction.

You can say similar things about Penn Circle and Allegheny Circle. these were all auto-centric big urban redevelopment projects that put their respective neighborhoods at a serious disadvantage that we are only now beginning to fix.

there one key difference between the civic arena urban renewal and Penn Circle and Allegheny Circle urban renewal - the civic arena was an historic landmark, a one-of-a-kind iconic structure

these days iconic means elitist so buildings are made to look similar and bland like soviet-style architecture

plus the civic arena was already there and was loved by many so it could have been re-purposed at a reasonable cost
this new hugely ambitious BIG plan is going to cost hundreds of millions at a time when us steel and kennemetal BOTH canceled their new headquarters

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...or-new-headquarters/stories/201602240216

[themaguffin]

The arena is gone. Move on.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

The arena is gone. Move on.

more like the area is gone...

[photoLith]

Haven't seen this posted ever, pretty huge development for Lville

01.26.16-Milhaus-Arsenal-copy by photolitherland, on Flickr
http://lvpgh.com/lawrenceville-parking-updates/

Milhaus Lawrencville Development

On January 25th, representatives from Milhaus Development presented at a community meeting about their plans for the site at 40th and Butler Streets, a project they have dubbed, “Arsenal Terminal”. Many questions arose from the community, especially around much needed parking.

http://lvpgh.com/milhaus-updates-2-2016/

[Minivan Werner]

Originally Posted by JVC

there one key difference between the civic arena urban renewal and Penn Circle and Allegheny Circle urban renewal - the civic arena was an historic landmark, a one-of-a-kind iconic structure

these days iconic means elitist so buildings are made to look similar and bland like soviet-style architecture

plus the civic arena was already there and was loved by many so it could have been re-purposed at a reasonable cost
this new hugely ambitious BIG plan is going to cost hundreds of millions at a time when us steel and kennemetal BOTH canceled their new headquarters

The main feature of the Civic Arena, the retractable roof, hadn't worked in decades and would've cost millions to repair.

It's secondary feature, as a concert venue, was rendered obsolete with CEC being built across the street.

It also sat so square in the middle of the lower hill that it would've been very difficult to re-connect the street grid and develop the land around it while leaving the arena in tact.

[Jonboy1983]

Anyone have any ideas or intel on what's going on with the Penn Plaza section 8 apartments in East Liberty? It does stink that many of those people are forced into other affordable housing options (whatever may be out there). I'm sure there's a good way to integrate affordable housing into the redevelopment of East Liberty.

I would like to see what kind of massing any new development would bring there. On the other hand, losing affordable housing is a shame.

[AaronPGH]

I can't tell if I'm reading City-Data or SSP any more with all this racist, classist — going on from a select few posters. Want to talk about trash? You're trashing this forum.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

I can't tell if I'm reading City-Data or SSP any more with all this racist, classist — going on from a select few posters. Want to talk about trash? You're trashing this forum.

Well City-data/pittsburgh seems to be close to dead these days as people like gg1 have chased away any intelligent discussion so he's come to here to tear down this place. Once this is a smoking ruin, it's on to r/pittsburgh.

[BrianTH]

I'm just going to note again this forum has an ignore function, which certainly works for me.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

Anyone have any ideas or intel on what's going on with the Penn Plaza section 8 apartments in East Liberty? It does stink that many of those people are forced into other affordable housing options (whatever may be out there). I'm sure there's a good way to integrate affordable housing into the redevelopment of East Liberty.

I would like to see what kind of massing any new development would bring there. On the other hand, losing affordable housing is a shame.

So we've discussed it a bit before, but the executive summary is that they put aside money to help the residents relocate, and they are also going to build new affordable housing units nearby as part of the the Mellon's Orchard project.

Penn Plaza is coming down in phases, and apparently all but two of the first phase residents have now been successfully relocated. However, some of them went into the second phase building, so before that comes down there will be a lot more work to do.

And of course finding something affordable for the residents doesn't mean it is always something in the neighborhood. Particularly with the Mellon's Orchard units not being available until later, some displacement is happening.

[mikebarbaro]

Looks like North Shore Place has replaced 2 out of 3 vacant spots in the new development with Burn a cigar bar and Southern Tier Microbrewery: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...aded-to-North-Shore/stories/201603010056

[glowrock]

Let this serve as a general overall warning to everyone in this thread. Any more racist, thinly-veiled racist, vile or otherwise unsavory comments will be deleted and the offending members disciplined!

Enough the this —. SSP isn't CityData! You know who you are, please grow up!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[eschaton]

We haven't summarized the Pittsburgh zoning adjustment schedules in awhile. I noticed a few interesting things in the most recent one however.

1. 12 new townhouses in Allentown. Not surprisingly, they are on Arlington Avenue, where there is a great view. This will require the demolition of 5-6 existing houses - everything in this view except the brick structure on the right (which presumably they couldn't purchase). That said, this is in an area zoned hillside, and requires pretty dramatic variances if it's going to get built at all, so it may never get off the ground at all.

2. Someone is finally doing something with this beautiful old warehouse on Reedsdale. It's being made into a hotel. I think apartments would be preferable, but this is probably the second-best use for that building.